Youth leaders mourn ‘the Godfather of campus conservatism’ Charlie Kirk following assassination

The horrific assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Wednesday stunned the world, and especially the youth conservative movement that he helped propel into the national spotlight.

Three young conservatives reflected on Kirk’s political legacy during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Thursday, the morning after the stunning display of violence took place at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. 

GOP Youth Advisory Co-Chair CJ Pearson emphasized the gravity of losing Kirk’s voice in the right-wing community, explaining how, at a young age, Kirk helped him find his own as a political activist. 

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“For me, I lost a friend, but my heart hurts even more for our country,” Pearson said. “This is a guy who, when I was just 12 years old, I was a nobody on social media. I had a couple of viral videos under my belt, but he reached out and said, ‘Hey, let me guide you. Let me mentor you, come to our conferences,’ because he was so dedicated to uplifting the next generation of conservative leaders in this country. And I think that will be his legacy.”

Campus Reform correspondent Emily Sturge sounded the alarm about the safety concerns of expressing views like Kirk’s at a university, describing being a conservative on a college campus as “putting a target on your back.” 

“Charlie Kirk was not in the business of politics,” Sturge said. “He was in the business of building relationships, friendships, marriages, families — he did that. Just within the last eight months of this administration, we’ve seen Gen Z’s revival in conservatism, in patriotism, and faith and family values. Charlie Kirk witnessed it — he fought the good fight, and then the Lord called him home.” 

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Gen Z commentator Chandler Crump noted how “very distraught” young conservatives are after Kirk’s death, but also proclaimed that Kirk would be forever known as the “Godfather of campus conservatism.”

“He ushered in a new wave of young people who were willing to speak about their beliefs without fear of retribution on their college campus,” Crump said. “I truly believe we would not have the second presidential administration of Donald Trump without Charlie Kirk, and many others have this same point of view.”

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Kirk was at the Utah Valley University campus Wednesday for the first event of “The American Comeback Tour,” which planned to travel across the country to different universities through the end of October. He was shot when speaking from his “Prove Me Wrong” table and was rushed to the hospital shortly after the shooting, where he was declared dead.

“This is someone who realized that the future of this country was in the conservative youth,” Pearson said. “And that if we were to actually take back the country, if we’re gonna make America great again, it was gonna be and start with America’s young people.” 

“But I think it’s a charge now for so many of us in the young conservative movement to continue his work, to fight harder, because they want to instill fear within us. We have to keep fighting.”